Four times Draal saved him, and once he was to late
by Overlord of Sarcasm
Summary: Basically what the title says... This will probably end up being about five or six chapters long! Reviews would be great, I'm pretty new to writing and want to know what ya'll think!
1. Chapter 1

**A/N – Plot bunnies at 1 am… Gotta love 'em, right?**

Being a teenager, Jim had thought about suicide a lot. He'd planned out the hows and wheres and whens, but could never bring himself to actually do the deed. He couldn't leave his Mother, or Toby, or…. Nope, he only had two friends. And one of them was his own Mother. That was kinda sad… But, Toby didn't even have a mother, so he had to be there for him. So, every day, Jim would make meals for a mother that he rarely saw for any extensive amount of time, and put on his brave face for his friend. He would always talk about how he craved more adventure in his life, how there had to be more to life than this. What no one else knew, though, was that he simply needed a reason to keep going. Everything was so dull, his life was so bland, and he was about to give up.

Things changed the day he found what he perceived to be a simple, glowing amulet, calling his name amid a pile of rocks under a bridge. Although weary, he picked it up, for at the very least, it could provide a few hours of entertainment, right? He made it through school that day, his mind constantly wandering back to the amulet in his bag, fantasizing about the adventures that it may have seen. Never in his wildest dreams would he have imagined that it had been to such beautiful, amazing places. No, his thoughts were focused more on old museums, and ancient tombs from faraway lands. Still, though, he lost himself in the scenarios in his mind.

When he got home that night, he skips his usual routine, turning on the TV before doing homework, not even bothering to empty his bag. The amulet started glowing again, but stopped soon after, leaving him looking at it in wonder. Something happens outside, causing him to rush out, still clutching the amulet in his hand. It glows, and something inside changes. There is now writing on the solid metal, where previously, he had noticed none. Jim reads it aloud, and out of the amulet come glowing, pulsing orbs, which enter his chest. He is encircled by chunks of metal, which, once they shrink, he realizes that it forms a protective armor over his body. There is a sword in his hand, and for something that didn't exist just moments ago, it weighs a ton. It shrinks though, forming to his hand. He feels a spark of joy, an odd sensation after so long without, and lifts the sword over his head in triumph. It is short lived, for he overbalances, sending the sword into a boulder, which only illustrates how sharp it is.

He was sitting back on the couch when he heard a noise from the basement, he simply assumed it would be raccoons, for what else would it be at this time at night? He sighs, wishing he didn't have to do this, yet at the same time glad to be given something to do and glad to be rid of the raccoons that have been causing him so many problems.

He opens the door, grabs a broom, and clicks on the light. His motions are mechanic, yet, even alone, he puts on the mask that seems to have become a permanent accessory, and tries to make himself look bigger, more intimidating than he really is. There is a scuttling noise, and the light goes out. Of course, it lets him down right when he needs it the most. No matter, he can do without. There's a noise behind him, and another to his right. He jerks around, searching through the dark. Something he can describe as nothing other than as a monster appears in front of him, and he tries to run. He has no luck, for there is another standing directly behind him. It manhandles him, while the smaller one tells him of another land, a land of trolls. It introduces itself as Blinky, and says that the amulet, the one sitting upstairs, has chosen him to be what they call a trollhunter, that it has called him to protect both the troll world and his own. He doesn't believe it, tries to escape again. The larger troll, Arrrgh (with three r's), stops his attempts. When he is placed back on the floor, the smaller, Blinky, asks him if he will accept this responsibility. Instead of answering, he faints, falling to the floor.

It is morning when he wakes up, and he immediately tries to call Toby to his house. He answers, but is unintelligible, which could only mean two things. Either he is eating, or he is at the dentist. Considering his newfound 'diet', Jim assumes he is at the dentist. He rushes over, only to be kicked out of the office. He goes to school, talks to his favorite professor. He nearly tells Strickler about the trolls and what they said, but catches himself and speaks of a chess club instead. School is over, and he has waited for Toby, for what seems like days, when it is really has only been eight hours. He drags his friend to his house, where his kitchen is raided. His friend doesn't pay attention to his excitement, simply eating his pizza until the armor comes out. Toby is awestruck, speechless for a moment, before he begins jumping around excitedly, already planning how Jim can help to save and protect the world.

Chaos ensues then, the two trolls coming inside his house, and Toby trying to call animal control. Yet, oddly, he is okay with everything once he is calmed down and sees that the trolls mean know harm. Blinky and Arrrgh decide to take them to see Troll Market, so the four set off across town, with the boys on their bikes. Of course, Bular decided that this would be a prime time to attack and chased them through the town. Then, after they all arrived in Troll Market, everything was calm for a while.

Then of course, Draal found out that his fathers replacement was a human, a tiny fleshbag, he was furious. Surely, this wasn't acceptable, right? So he decided to 'help' Blinky with the training of this pathetic excuse for a trollhunter.

When Jim realized what was happening, he wasn't super excited. It wasn't the fact that he might die… No, it was that this made it harder to go out on his own terms. He'd thought all about his death before, and had already decided that when he did die, he wanted it to be on his own terms, and not anyone else's. Yet, now he had been voluntold to spar with this giant troll, who was easily twice his height. The fact that it only took one of Draal's hands to immobilize the majority of Jims body only made him more nervous, although he shook with a kind of nervous anticipation at the thought, and every thought was colored with exhilaration at the mere mention of the upcoming spar. And, although there had only been little more than a day since the invitation was extended, there had even been the odd moment or two when the raw emotions running through him caused some rather odd, although not entirely unwelcome reactions in his body, even if there were plenty unwelcome reactions that more than made up for those, as they were few and far between.

As the fight was about to start, he informed Blinky that he never before done so much as even thrown a punch, which only caused to increase his panic levels. He was glad that there were not many spectators, for that would have made his upcoming loss even worse than it was already guaranteed to be. Jim was fully prepared to throw the fight, to not even make a half attempt, so that he may get it over with as soon as possible, but he was worried that Draal would just kill him flat out rather than allow him to do that. Perhaps, if he allowed this to happen, it would be close enough to an accident to be able to be ruled as an accident rather than a suicide? He didn't want to hurt Toby or his Mother with the fact that he had been driven to take his own life.

Draal entered the arena with the intent to kill. From the look on the humans face, he was anticipating death. With every punch he threw, Draal felt his anger calming, although he was still fully prepared to… 'Finish the Fight', so to say. When he threw the kid across the forge, he expected him to simply fall off of the edge, causing him to win and allowing him to end it without to many questions from the trollhunters companion. Despite his intentions, the fleshbag called Jim rolled to a stop just short of the edge. He strode over, then picked him up, his fist constricting the small body. When he looked at the face, however, he knew he couldn't do it. He could not bring himself to kill the small trollhunter. The kids eyes were weary beyond his short years, and when he recognized that Draal would kill him, he had given a half smile. It had haunted Draal to no end. One so young should not feel that way, should not wish to end their own life. He had said a few things to the boy, although later he could not recall what was said, and he dropped him, just short of the edge.

Draal was thankful that he was able to establish that the mock fight was just for training, rather than a real duel, for, if it was otherwise, it was inevitable that one of them would have ended up dead. He knew that, although it was most definitely not his responsibility, he was beginning to care for this brave soul, and knew that he would have to watch to ensure that no harm came for him. He could only hope that Jim did nothing stupid that could endanger himself further.


	2. Chapter 2

The second time was more of an accident than anything else. Honestly, he hadn't gone looking for trouble, and he really shouldn't have let the high from fighting Steve get to him when he went to Troll Market, but it was already kinda too late to back out. Of course, when he had issued the challenge, he hadn't realized that the fight was TO THE DEATH! If he had known, if he had only read that stupid book, he would have been safe. He would have known that to challenge a troll to a duel, was to question their honor. He should have known, he should have read the book earlier. This was a stupid mistake, and he should NOT have messed up on something as simple as this.

If this had happened to him before, he would have been fine with it. If he'd done this before, even a few days earlier, he would have been… Not happy, but he wouldn't have been overly upset either. Of course, he would have faked it for Tobes and Blinky and Arrrgh. But of course, it wasn't a few days before. No, it was right after Claire, the girl he has obsessed over for years, began talking to him. Finally, he had a little excitement in his life that didn't have anything to do with the trolls, and he had to go and ruin it by practically signing up to get himself killed!

Now there wasn't much left to do but train and write letters, telling those he cared about how much they meant to him. He tried to explain things as best he can, without alarming anyone who wasn't in on the secret, but he wasn't sure how well he had done. When he had first challenged Draal, he had thought that he was just asking for another sparring session, that nothing bad would happen if he lost, but he quickly learned how wrong he was when Draal sauntered over when they were in Troll Market to gloat about how he would win, asking Jim if he was prepared to die, and taunting him in general. At first when he found out, he was scared, and dreaded it, but the more he thought about the possibility of his own death, the more the idea appealed to him. Sure, Claire was talking to him a little bit, but… How long was that likely to last? He doubted it would extend beyond the end of the school play that they were acting in together.

No matter what though, Jim didn't want to go down without a fight, so he trained. He made it look like he was training, trying to become proficient enough in swordplay to match Draal blow for blow, but almost everyone from Troll Market doubted him, doubted that he would be able to get more than a few strikes in with his sword before Draal killed him. He supposed that this would only serve to add credibility to the fact that his death, while unfortunate, was simply a byproduct of losing in battle to Draal, rather than a planned suicide by an enemy opponent.

Draal, on the other hand, was dreading the fight for entirely different reasons. Of course, to keep up appearances, he had to act intimidating, but in private, when he was alone, he would wring his massive hands, dreading the moment of truth. He knew he couldn't kill the boy. Yes, he would try, but when it came to the final blow, he knew that he would have to either pull the punch or show mercy, then laugh it off as giving the kid one last chance to prove himself as an adept trollhunter. Of course, he hoped that it wouldn't come to that, even if he meant he'd be killed in his place. He had sworn to himself that, from now on, this child would be in his care, under his protection, and he had to uphold that oath. He supposed that he could do as the child asked, when he somewhat half-heartedly requested to cancel the fight. Although it hurt his heart, Draal knew that he could not agree to this, for the questioning, which could be easily perceived as panicked begging to those who did not know the truth, would be seen as a weakness, and only cause Jim to become more of a target than he already was. Draal tried to plan for every possibility, but knew that his attempts were futile, for there were no easily performed escape routes. He was trapped, and was unsure of what he should do.

Two nights before the duel, Jim stayed up writing letters to all those he cared about, going so far as to write letters for Blinky and Arrrgh. For their letters however, he left them in his house, with instructions in Toby's letter to retrieve them if he were to die. Additionally in the letter meant for Toby, he asked him to find a way to make his death look like an accident, to give his mother some sort of closure rather than leave her wondering what happened to her son. On one hand, he hoped that it wouldn't come to that, but on the other, he knew that it would be a welcome release. The day before the fight, he took great care in copying the letters down onto fresh sheets of paper, paying special attention to the legibility of his handwriting. The night before the fight, he finally opened that book, looking for a last minute miracle, even if that was highly unlikely. He found something about armor chinks, then diligently poured over it until daybreak of the next morning. The day of the fight, he hid the letters in lockers, in cookbooks, wherever he thought that the recipient would find it the most quickly. He made his mother a meal consisting of all his favorite foods, told her that he loved her and would never leave her alone like his father had, hugged her, then left, heading to what he knew would probably be his doom.

At long last, it was time to enter the forge. Jim shook with nervous energy and anticipation, while Draal shook with dread. They entered the arena, and the large troll immediately set off after the amateur trollhunter, determined to try his hardest, yet still refrain from killing him. Directly from the start, it was obvious to anyone who was looking for the signs that Jim wasn't even making an attempt, let alone putting up a fight. This alone worried Draal, but he continued to target the child. He rolled around the outer edge of the forge, when suddenly, he was stopped. The idiotic child had thrown away his blade! He was a bit surprised to see it reappear in the fleshbags hand, but was glad to see a small smile appear, even if it was heavy and weary from so long without being used. But his hope turned to dread when the boy threw Daylight at his head, and, out of instinct, he dodged it. The sword did not return to Jim's hand right away. Draal snarled, trying to make it look intimidating, but at the same time did not want to cause the young human to faint in fear, so he suspected that he did not quite pull it off as he had hoped.

The two danced around each other, Draal toying with him, and Jim trying to make a difference. It almost looked as if the boy was beginning to gain a sense of balance and awareness that he had not before reached, when the stone plates began rotating, causing him to balance precariously on the edge. Draal knew that he had to take advantage of this, for if he did not, it would be too obvious that this was one fight that he did not want to 'finish'. Once the boy fell, Draal jumoed to the ground, landing, but unable to see him. He spun around, panicking for a moment… What if he fell into the gears? What if he was unconscious somewhere, knocked out from hitting his head? Finally, he looked over to where the swinging blades came from the wall. There was the child, standing there, leaning heavily against the wall, still without his sword. Draal nearly rolled his eyes. This plan was nearly so obvious that a blind troll could see it! But, it was as good a chance as any to end the fight. He knew that the kid was only standing there to disguise his attempt, obviously baiting Draal to come and kill him. If it was anyone else, he would have, but this kind little boy, who still, could barely pick up the sword, let alone swing it properly, had stolen his heart, and it nearly broke him to see him standing there, calmly awaiting death, as if to greet it as an old friend. So, Draal decided to end it, to not allow the child to carry through with his second attempt. He was only glad that he had caught the planning, that he had realized how broken the kid was when they first fought. He stepped forward, timing it perfectly with the swing of the giant blade, making it appear to be an accident, a miscalculation. He was flung through the air, landing on the edge of the forge, much as Jim had done in their original duel. He managed to hold on, allowing the trollhunter to end it. He only hoped that Jim would be merciful and put him out of his misery quickly.

As Jim walked over, Daylight reappeared. The child stood there for a moment, then raised the blade high over his head before plunging it into the stone beside Draal's hand. He helped him stand up, saying that it was 'house rules', and not his own that said he must kill Draal. All he requested was to not make it weird, but all that Draal could think about was how good, how pure this boy was. He walked out of the forge with his head low, but his thoughts high, already planning to live near the boy, for protection and training, as well as to keep an eye on everything.


	3. Chapter 3

The third time wasn't long after the second. Of course, this third time…. He wasn't sure if he could do it. Mrs. Namura presented the perfect opportunity for him, but his mother… She was just barely inside. Asleep. Knocked out by this monster before him. He had no way of knowing if this changeling would kill her once he was gone, or if she would wake up at all, and there was no way he could let her wake up to find her son, dead, torn apart in her kitchen…. No, this time, he had no real choice but to fight.

He tried, he made a half hearted attempt to keep her away, to keep her from killing him, but knew that he would be unable to avoid the temptation for long. Jim threw away the amulet, hoping to distract her, knowing that, because he rejected it himself, that he deliberately tried to get rid of it, it would reappear to him in just a few moments. He runs upstairs to the bathroom, trying to hide, waiting for the amulet to return to him. Once it does so, he plans to lead her out the window, over the back fence, away from his home, and, more specifically, his beloved mother. It is tempting, almost too tempting to let the changeling kill him once they are far enough away. He is already sore from his fight with Draal, he knows that he won't last very long, he might as well reduce the amount of pain he must go through before his death. Better to make it swift, right?

At the very least, moving away, and having Mrs. Nomura kill him will save his mother the trouble of knowing that her son commit suicide… But the police will be able to recognize the marks of a blade, better to get those away from her before she manages to cut him, he wouldn't want an innocent human to be framed in her stead. Then perhaps she will use her claws rather than her swords. If he could get her into the woods, it would be relatively easy to make this look like some kind of wild animal attack, rather than a murder. Yes… that is what he will do. Now he must only execute his plan.

Jim knows that she is about to get through the door. He moves to the ledge of the window, waiting for the changeling to make it through the door before he throws himself out of it. He waits, balancing on the tip of his toes, knowing it will happen any second now. He prepares, is about to unlock the window…. There is a crash. There is a brief scuffling sound, then there is silence. Could it have been his mother, waking up? Could this she-monster have killed her? He scurries downstairs, unconcerned for his own safety. However, he dreads seeing what could have happened to his mother, so he pauses at the last second, closing his eyes before turning and peeking at the table. His mom is still there, sleeping, unaware of the chaos that is all around her.

There is now sounds of fighting. He follows it to the backyard. He opens the door, only to find that Mrs. Nomura is there, rushing at him, her long claws splayed out over her head. She swipes at him, and, out of instinct, he ducks, covering his head. He may be prepared, even ready and eager to die, to escape this world, but he couldn't let him end it like this, in his back yard! No, it must be on his own terms, and no one else's. There wasn't any conceivable way for animals with claws that large to get into his backyard on their own. Because he ducked, she misses his head by inches, then is yanked back as a large hand wraps around her middle and pulls her away from Jim. Jim stays in position for a few more moments, then realizes that, as he is not dead yet, it is most likely safe to look up again. He does so, and sees something that he never thought that he would. Draal is in his backyard, fighting, protecting him. He does a double take, surely this is fake? It must be some sort of trick or something…. Why would the troll that he had just defeated and humiliated in front of all of trollmarket, be protecting him? There was simply no good reason. Jim doubted even Toby would be willing to distract Mrs. Nomura like that, let alone challenge her outright! Heck, even Blinky and Aaarrrgghh had run and left him to fight Bular on his own. So why was this troll, one who had been his enemy, protecting him?

Once he gets rid of Mrs. Nomura, he turns towards me. I bring Daylight up to a guarded position across my chest, before he explains what exactly is going on.

Linebreak –

Draal walked through the streets of Arcadia, trying to stay in the shadows, remaining unseen. He followed the fleshbags scent, trying to find his place of residence, but was having no luck. Surely, this child hadn't actually been to this many places? His scent was all over the town! He may have an excellent nose, but no one could possibly navigate this strange place on scent alone, as most trolls do! Few trolls use anything other than their nose for navigation, choosing instead to rely on their sense of smell alone. However, that activity was proving to be nigh impossible, for there were too many overlapping trails. Finally, he finds an area that has more layers of scent trails than the others. The other one, the child's companion, was also prominent. The area positively reeked with the stench of the two humans, one of which he had come to love dearly. He set out down the streets, smelling both the air and the physical surroundings for the scent of the aspiring trollhunter.

He pauses for a moment, nostrils flaring. There is a new scent, a tainted scent, that of a changling. For a moment, he looks around, wondering if the child will survive if he takes a quick detour to see why there is a changeling in Arcadia. Draal nods to himself, then takes off, following the scent. After a few minutes, he stops abruptly. The trail leads him inside a house? Surely not. Maybe it just lives here? But there is a crashing sound, and he knows that, even if he needs to find Jim, this could be important as well. Certainly, just a few more minutes couldn't hurt? He rushes inside, noticing the unconscious human at table, but dismissing it as unimportant. Another crash, this time from up the stairs, causes him to rush to the top. He sees the changeling, a horrendous pink thing, which, sadly, he recognizes. He knows who this is, and he will be more than happy to end her. To finish the fight that she ran from, oh so long ago. He snatches her from the door, dragging her down the stairs, then proceeds to throw her from the building. He follows her out the door, trying to subdue her, without causing too much alarm to the puny fleshbags which are inside the home, most likely cowering in fear. Inside, Draal can hear the pounding of feet, probably someone trying to run and hide in the basement… Not that that would do any good against a troll or changeling, for their natural state is that of darkness and chaos.

Draal is taken aback when the mini trollhunter carelessly throws open the back door. He barely manages to catch the pink terror before she achieves her goal of decapitating the newest trollhunter. He knows he needs to end this quickly, before the small child does something stupid to get himself hurt, so he ends the fight. He allows the Halfling to scamper away, watching as she does so. Once she is out of sight, Draal turns towards Jim. It hurts his heart to see the child, with Daylight drawn and held up in a pathetic attempt to make it appear that he would protect himself if Draal were to attack him. Thus, he explains. He tells the young one that he will protect him and his family when Jim cannot, to ensure the safety of this new trollhunter. The boy relaxes, but has a defeated look. It crosses his mind that he is far too trusting of someone who, as far as Jim was aware, just earlier that day had tried to kill him. Mentally, he edits his goals for while he lives here. Protect the young human, and protect his mother, from outsiders, and from Jim himself, if needs be. At any cost, even that of his own life. This young fleshbag had many great things to accomplish, and he would not be able to do so if he were dead.


End file.
